Restoration are widely established to improve degraded stream ecosystem. Most are set in small-scale, and rarely consider spatial scales variation to specific processes. To evaluate the spatial extent of the effects of landscape influences on stream ecosystem, we measured water quality, invertebrates, and sediments in Jialu river, and considered 6 spatial scales (doubling 60-1920 m) to determine the characteristic scales at which stream ecosystem respond to landscape factor. Urban had the greatest influence on water quality, and the proportion of variability in water quality explained by urban generally decreased with increasing scale, suggesting that local disturbances (60 m) are the most influential determinants of water quality. Macroinvertebrates showed a strong relationship with instream habitat variables (especially substrate size), rather than with land use. Forest was the dominant factor influencing TOC of sediments, and the effect slightly decreased with increasing scales. These results suggest that the characteristic spatial scale varied across response variables, which is apparently regulated by their own mechanisms and processes. To increase the likelihood of success restoration, varied steps should be taken to different components of stream ecosystem at appropriate scales.